Strange Homelink issues?

[Gizmotoy]

I recently had the MCU1 in my 2013 replaced as it was getting flakey. When I got home, my Homelink integration no longer worked. The items were there in the list, but they no longer worked so I reprogrammed them.

After reprogramming, Homelink only sort of works. It works in the garage, and it works when the car is facing the garage, but if the car is facing the street it won't work. Even if the trunk is as close as possible to the garage.

I relearned the remote a bunch of time, trying different locations near the bumper to hold the opener. I replaced the batteries in the opener. I fiddled with the garage door opener antenna. Nothing worked. I spent 3 hours trying every permutation of sensor, location, etc.

Mobile service was out and did a hard 12V reset on the vehicle. We also removed the front license plate. No luck. They were similarly stumped. They're going to investigate logs, but didn't sound hopeful there would be a solution.

Any idea what could be going on here? Literally the only change was the MCU1 swap, but Homelink is a little module in the frunk. They shouldn't be related. I don't even know what more to try.

 

[LawyerBoy]

I have a similar issue with homeland. Sometimes it won't close the garage automatically. One time my wife had to go into the house and do it because even the manual failed. I keep adjusting it lower in distance and works better. It has only failed to open the HOA gate once. Go figure. I re-learned it multiple times, but it is still a recurring problem. When I received my updated self-drive computer, nothing really changed.

 

[Joelgjr]

mine has functioned like this from the factory. works significantly better in the wife's model x. I just assumed it was poor antenna placement; I didn't realize that other people's Model S homelink worked any better

 

[murphyS90D]

What frequency is your garage door opener on? When mine was on 315 Mhz I had all kinds of trouble due to interference. I dumped the 315 Mhz opener and switched to a 390 Mhz opener. It now works solid from the end of the driveway which is 75 feet from the house.

 

[Gizmotoy]

Looks like 315MHz. I didn't realize there were multiple bands supported. The manual didn't mention anything about that. I'll check it out.

 

[murphyS90D]

In my case a wireless IP camera had a spurious output on 315 Mhz that blocked the receiver in the opener. X10 devices use 310 Mhz which is close enough to be a problem. The color of the antenna is related to the frequency. Purple is 315 Mhz. Yellow is 390 Mhz. There are others but Google is letting me down at the moment.

 

[Gizmotoy]

Ok. I'm in complete shock about this, but here goes: this seems to have been caused by an LED light bulb in the garage door opener itself. They've been in there for over 2 years. Apparently something failed that coincided directly with my MCU replacement. The bulbs still worked, but must have started emitting some extra RF. It looks like this is a common problem, and apparently garage door manufacturers have a list of "known good" bulbs each opener can be used with. I had no idea.

So bulbs replaced with ones from the list and bam, back to 100% functional. I'm completely shocked that was the issue and the timing lined up so perfectly, but that's what it was.

 

[murphyS90D]

Murphy's law.

I use incandescent bulbs. They only radiate heat and light.

 

[DerbyDave]

Ok. I'm in complete shock about this, but here goes: this seems to have been caused by an LED light bulb in the garage door opener itself. They've been in there for over 2 years. Apparently something failed that coincided directly with my MCU replacement. The bulbs still worked, but must have started emitting some extra RF. It looks like this is a common problem, and apparently garage door manufacturers have a list of "known good" bulbs each opener can be used with. I had no idea.

So bulbs replaced with ones from the list and bam, back to 100% functional. I'm completely shocked that was the issue and the timing lined up so perfectly, but that's what it was.

Yes, both CFL and LED bulbs cause interference. Using either will make even the garage door supplied Homelink remotes to fail on my garage door. Incandescent only. BTW, I am not having any problems.

 

[blackhawk]

I’ve seen the same issue. If I put LED lamps in my garage door opener, all of the remotes and the Tesla homelink stop working. Annoying as hell until I figured it out.

 

[smilepak]

Interesting. I have the same issue. If I back in my car into the garage the homelink wouldn’t trigger the garage. But if I drive straight it, it would no issue.

 

[murphyS90D]

Interesting. I have the same issue. If I back in my car into the garage the homelink wouldn’t trigger the garage. But if I drive straight it, it would no issue.

The Homelink transmitter is in the front of the car. When backing in the signal is blocked by the body of the car.

 

[6t8stang]

Same intermittent issue here. I always back in the garage - sometimes it works and others it doesn't. Most times one or more manual presses of the homelink works - once in awhile even multiple attempts here fail. I extended the antenna of my garage door opener and it seemed to help at first, but now back to intermittent. It is an older garage door opener - I've contemplated replacing...

 

[murphyS90D]

If you replace it get one that uses 390 MHz. The earlier ones use 315 MHz and that band is loaded with interfering signals.

 

[LawyerBoy]

What frequency is your garage door opener on? When mine was on 315 Mhz I had all kinds of trouble due to interference. I dumped the 315 Mhz opener and switched to a 390 Mhz opener. It now works solid from the end of the driveway which is 75 feet from the house.

That might be it! Mine is 315 (purple antenna wire) and I know the HOA gate is different, because I just had to buy a new remote for my wife and they cautioned me on it. Well next time I buy a garage door opener I will get the 390. Thanks!

 

[LawyerBoy]

That might be it! Mine is 315 (purple antenna wire) and I know the HOA gate is different, because I just had to buy a new remote for my wife and they cautioned me on it. Well next time I buy a garage door opener I will get the 390. Thanks!

 

[LawyerBoy]

Yes, both CFL and LED bulbs cause interference. Using either will make even the garage door supplied Homelink remotes to fail on my garage door. Incandescent only. BTW, I am not having any problems.

Apparently that could be it. I googled it and found a LED bulb especially made for garage door openers (Genie, but universal). The link:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/LED-Gara...liMven3iJiFpikTF0De7a5Writ5WAkIRoCFUwQAvD_BwE

 

[Gt1948]

This started for me after last update.... sometimes the door starts to open/close and stops.

 

[Babaron]

“This started for me after last update.... sometimes the door starts to open/close and stops“

Same here. Very annoying. How do we fix that?

 

[domodan]

The Homelink transmitter is in the front of the car. When backing in the signal is blocked by the body of the car.

Nah, that isn’t it. The auto open just doesnt consider where you’re at when you’re reversing. You can watch the “distance to open” and once you start going backwards it doesn’t count down anymore. You also don’t ever see the little lines indicating that it’s transmitting.

I had this same problem too, but it’s not a range issue as I can have the rear facing the car 200 feet from the house and it will open. To solve this I found the right distance setting and I pull forward towards the house and then turn right at the edge of my driveway. There it opens the door and my turn gets me pointed the right direction to back in. I live in the back of a quiet cul-de-sac so this is easier than if I were on a regular street.